The Day our Acacia Bloomed
by Tahimik Panda
Summary: Hana-chan falls in love (Btw: Acacia means Secret Love)
1. Chiharu Arrives

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket. TT

Hanajima Saki stared out the window at the rain that was coming down in droves. Thunder illuminated the sky like a bunch of light bulbs going on and off. Another day at school, fun stuff. She could wait to get out of that cold, dreary building. As she looked around the classroom, she saw that Uotani Arisa, and Honda Tohru were not present.

"Arisa must be playing hooky and Tohru-kun must be sick," she thought. She made a mental note to go check on Tohru later.

Just then the bell rang with a shrill sound. All the students that had gathered together in groups to talk now made their way to their seats. About a minute after the students assembled their teacher, Mayuko-sensei, arrived in the classroom.

"Morning." She said briskly.

The class responded with the usual dull good-morning. Most were too tired to even care about what the teacher said. The teacher than preceded to take attendance of the class. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. About a second later the knob turned and in walked a boy about their age.

He was tall and fair skinned. He had dark black hair, the color of midnight that was flattened against his head by the rainwater. His deep blue eyes surveyed the classroom quickly before he smiled a little bit. He then preceded to walk to the teacher in a casual walk and handed her a sheet of green paper.

Mayuko-sensei surveyed the paper for a minute before she cleared her throat. "Class, we have a new student today from America." She said. "His name is Chiharu Yamazaki and I expect all of you to welcome him." She then turned to him and said; "State something about yourself, or something about where you came from."

Chiharu looked up at her questionably. Then he said in a deep voice, "Uh…Hi, my name's Chiharu. I moved from Los Angeles, California to Tokyo. I'm sixteen, and I like to listen to music. I also speak three languages."

The class stared impressed at the boy who could speak three languages. The girls whispered excitedly among themselves about this new stranger from America. Some of them had hearts for eyes. The boys on the other hand wondered if he was interested in playing soccer with them later this afternoon. Saki just looked at him and thought, "Whatever, a newcomer, so what?" Her denpa waves though picked up a weird signal; this boy was different from the other boys. He was calm and relaxed, not like Yuki Sohma, but to a certain degree. However he did kind of have a temper, like Kyo Sohma, except not as bad.

"There's an empty seat right beside Hanajima-san, you can sit there." Mayuko-sensei pointed out.

"Who's Hanajima-san?" He asked.

"Hanajima-san, raise your hand please." Mayuko-sensei said.

Saki reluctantly raised her hand. She wanted to have a clear view of the window, but now with this boy right beside her, she wouldn't be able to see the thunder and to day-dream looking out at the window while the teacher was talking.

Chiharu saw her raised hand and began to walk towards her. Along the way the girls stopped him and looked up at him with adoring eyes. He just smiled back at them and proceeded to walk towards Saki. He had a slight smile on his face when he finally reached her.

"Sup," he said, and then he sat down in his chair. Saki chose not to say anything. "Just stay quiet and he won't bother you," she thought to herself. By the time the boy had settled his stuff into the desk the teacher had already begun to teach the math lesson. And so the day went by.


	2. A Strange Lunch

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket .

"Never frown, even when you are sad, because you never know who is falling in love with your smile."

The rest of the day passed as usual. Most of the morning Saki didn't pay attention to what was going on in her classes. The teachers droned on with their monotonous voices and when one asked her a question, she just gave him a blank stare and he backed off. Another worthless day. The worst part was that she couldn't stare out the window because the new kid, Chiharu, was blocking her way. So, instead of focusing her attention in class, Saki decided to observe the boy.

He seemed like any ordinary guy. Well, except for the fact that he spoke three languages and that he was from America. Other than that, nothing special. Yet there was something about his aura that made Saki drawn to him. He had this air of mischievous around him, yet it was also mixed with a little bit of playfulness, and calmness. What made Saki most drawn to him were his deep blue eyes. They were the color of the ocean on a stormy day. Those eyes held a deep understanding of the world around them, and they seemed to suck in the knowledge that the teacher was writing on the board.

All of a sudden he turned his head so that he could look at her. It was then that Saki couldn't move. Like her brain was frozen. His eyes kept her from looking away. He suddenly smiled and said, "Hey."

Saki turned a bit pink and looked away. "Whoa," she thought, "What was that?" The rest of the morning she decided to look anywhere but at him. Especially at his eyes. There was a mystery about them, and she didn't want to figure it out right away.

When the lunch bell rang, Saki slowly gathered her stuff together just to see if the boy would go away. Instead, the boy packed up his stuff quickly and waited for her. Seeing that she couldn't drive him away, she looked at him and said, "Did you need something?"

"Um, actually I was wondering if you could show me around the school since I'm new and all." He stated. "I really didn't have time to look around this morning because I was late and also because I got caught in traffic."

Saki heaved a sigh. She really didn't have anyone to hang out with that afternoon. Tohru-kun-kun was sick, Arisa was doing a modeling class, Yuki had student council duties, and Kyo, well he was just him. "All right," she said a little reluctantly.

After making a quick stop to her locker, they both decided to walk around the campus. It was still raining outside so Saki brought her umbrella with her. She didn't really like to get wet, and also it might mess with her denpa waves. Most of the students were inside the cafeteria eating and chattering. "Where do you want to start first," She asked.

"How about you show me outside," He said. He then flashed her a brilliant smile. Saki could only stare at it. He had brilliant white teeth. They both stepped outside into the rain and Saki proceeded to explain everything about the school to him.

Passing by the gardens, she said," And these were the gardens that were planted in 1976 by the graduating class." She said in her monotonous voice.

"How come you never smile?" Chiharu stated suddenly.

Saki stopped abruptly and stared at him questionly. This was certainly unexpected. Kind of random too if she thought so herself. "What do you mean I don't smile?" She asked. "I smile around my friends and family."

"Do you ever smile in front of strangers?" He asked her. His eyes held a questioning look in them. She stared at them for a minute, wondering what this boy was trying to point out to her.

"No, I don't smile in front of strangers, because I don't know them and also because I don't plan on smiling in front of them." She stated.

"Well, if I may make a suggestion Hanajima-san, I think you should smile more. And in front of strangers too." He stated.

Saki stared bewildered at this boy. He wanted her to smile more, and in front of strangers too. This boy was an oddball. Besides, what did he know about her? Did he know the true reason why she never really smiled except in front of the people she loved and cared about. Why would he care?

"And why exactly do you care!" She demanded rather angrily.

"Because I think you would look really pretty if you smiled more. I mean you're pretty now, but you would look even prettier if you smiled. Plus, you should never frown because you never know who is falling in love with your smile." He stated matter of factly.

He then looked at his watch and said, "Oh, the bell is about to ring, I should start heading back to my next class because I have an odd feeling I'll be late."

And with that he turned her back on her and starting walking towards the school. She heard him whistling a small tune. His face was completely relaxed, and he seemed to enjoy the rain.

Saki just stared in shock at his retreating back. Now this was unexpected. "He thinks I'm pretty!" She thought to herself bewildered. "Strange boy." Just then the bell rang, signaling that lunch had ended.


	3. Thoughts and an Ipod

"Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep."

The rest of the day Saki's brain was numb. "What the heck was that?" she thought to herself. Chiharu on the other hand acted as though nothing happened. He just went through class looking bored, listening to his I-pod. She glanced over at him occasionally, but he never looked at her.

Finally the final bell rang and the class got up to leave. There were shouts of joy throughout the classroom that another day of school had ended. Saki felt relieved she couldn't wait to go home to think about the afternoon's events. She barely heard her teacher yell at everyone to have a good day. Suddenly someone tapped her on the shoulder.

Turning around she found Chiharu smiling down at her. "Good-bye Hanajima-san," he said rather cheerfully. And with that he walked off with his I-pod through the door. The girls all around her started whispering.

"What is he doing around her?" one girl whispered disgustedly.

"Seriously, doesn't he know about her denpa waves?" another asked.

Saki just turned around and gave all of them a stare. All the girls looked away and started packing their bags to go home. However, Saki's mind did have that one question on it. What was he doing around Saki. Didn't he think that someone like her might be a weird person and worth leaving alone. Somehow though, she doubted that he thought anything like that. She smiled slightly to herself. It was good that he didn't care that he was around her. Her smile slowly went away though as she thought that once he found out about her powers, he would stay away. "Wait, why do I care?" she thought to herself. She didn't! With that thought in her mind, Saki packed away the rest of her stuff and headed out the door.

As she neared the school gates she saw him leaning against them, his eyes closed. He was listening to his I-pod and was slowly bobbing his head up and down to the tune of the music. He had a slight smile about his face. The rain had gone away and was replaced by the sun, which shone rays on his face.

He suddenly opened his eyes and saw her. Smiling even more widely, he headed towards her and said, "Hey!"

Saki just looked at him. She didn't know what to think. First off, this guy was a complete stranger to her. And second off, at lunch, he called her pretty. And now he was waiting for her, he was indeed an oddball.

"Hello Yamazaki-san," she replied. She started walking forward, hoping to loose him. She was surprised however that he was walking in strides with her. She looked up at him with a glare, hoping that maybe he would get the hint and just go away so that she could think. She was wrong to think that though as the guy was clearly oblivious to the clues she was giving him. She stopped abruptly to see if he would just keep walking ahead. Instead he stopped and stared back at her questioningly.

"Can I help you with anything?" She asked rather agitated.

"Actually yeah," He replied. "I was wondering where you lived?"

Saki looked at him incredulously. They had just met and he was asking her where she lived? Fine, if I tell him maybe he'll go away.

"I live on 1856 Tsukini Ave, why did you need to know that?" She asked.

"O good, can I walk home with you, I live close by?" He said.

Saki actually wanted to walk home in peace and quiet but she saw that she wouldn't be able to do that. To tired to fight him back, she agreed and started walking. He kept up with her strides quite easily. And so in silence, they walked toward the train station. Him listening to his I-pod, her listening to the waves of other people. She felt kind of odd walking with him alone, but her blank face kept her emotions in check. He showed no emotions either, just a small smile here and there on his face.

When they got to the train station, they bought their tickets and waited on a bench nearby the tracks. It was there that he turned to her and said, "Hey, you wanna listen to my I-pod?"

Saki wasn't really a big fan of music, but because she was bored she agreed to. Chiharu took his headphones off and handed them to Saki. Playing from the headphones was this steady drumming and lots of guitars. As Saki put on the headphones, she listened to this foreign language. The music was really loud, and the words were foreign to her, yet, she liked the song. It was interesting. She closed her eyes and did just what he did, bobbing her head up and down to the tune of the music.

Suddenly a tap on her shoulder mad her open her eyes. She looked up at Chiharu who said, "Train's here." She suddenly felt embarrassed. She let this boy see a side of her that she didn't even know existed in herself. She let him see the nice side of her. Somehow though, she didn't regret it. And from what she could tell of his waves, he didn't mind one bit. In fact, he was humored by it. For some reason, she felt relaxed around this boy, he was different from others that's for sure.

Saki then gathered her stuff and boarded the bus, handing the trainmaster her ticket. Chiharu followed her and likewise did the same. The train was crowded so they couldn't find any seats. They instead decided to stand up and just hold onto the railing. The ride to the next train station was rather short. Or maybe it was just because she was listening to the music the whole time. The CD ended by the time they arrived at the train station.

"What is this band?" She inquired as they got off the train.

"They're called Greenday, they're a hit in the US." He replied. "Did you like it?"

"It was, interesting, "Saki replied for a lack of words.

"Well that's good." He said laughing.

The walk to her house was silent. Chiharu had taken back his I-pod and was currently bobbing his head up and down to the music. Saki had lost interest in the denpa waves around her, but was now engrossed in her own thoughts. Why was this boy so nice to her? He didn't even know her! She was so engrossed in her own thoughts that she almost walked into the gate of her house.

"Watch out!" Chiharu called out. He reached out an arm to stop her so instead of hitting her forehead against the gate wall she hit it against the palm of his hand. She looked up startled at him.

Chiharu was laughing his head off, a deep laugh that echoed around the silent neighborhood. His eyes were tearing up, he must've thought it was really funny.

"Hahaha…you're really funny Hanajima-san." He chortled wiping tears from his eyes.

"Funny!" She thought. There was a first. She'd never heard that in her lifetime. "Am I really funny?" she thought. Looking up at him now, she decided to ask him one thing before entering her house.

"Why are you spending so much time around me, you don't even know me?" She asked.

Chiharu looked down at her and smiled. He only shrugged and said, "You intrigue me Hanajima-san. There's something special about you. By the way, did you know that every night, someone thinks about you before they go to sleep?"

Saki looked startled at him. "What!" her mind screamed.

"All right Hanajima-san, see you tomorrow." He said. He then sauntered off into the distance. Saki stared at his back shocked. This was the second time that day that he said something that caught her off guard. What was with him?

"Saki?" a voice called out behind her.

Saki whirled around and saw her little brother Megumi behind her. She smiled as she walked up to him and said, "Hi."

"Who was that boy?" Megumi asked.

"Some new guy at school." She replied.

"He must be special because Saki's all red." Megumi stated. He then went back into the kitchen to finish up preparing his sandwich.

"Wait, what!" Saki yelled at Megumi's retreating back. She then whirled around and faced the hallway mirror. Megumi was right, she was red. "O well," She thought to herself, "It was just windy today so the wind must've made my face red." She tried to convince herself that that was true, but it wasn't. She knew it was a lie. "What a day." She thought. And with that she advanced up the stairs to her room where she collapsed on her bed and fell asleep.


	4. A Unique Redfaced Girl

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket

"You are special and unique."

Around midnight Saki woke up. Looking out the window at the sliver of the moon, she reflected on Chiharu's words. What did they mean? Did he really believe that she was pretty? Saki climbed out of bed and went to her dresser. Opening it up, she looked at the reflection in the mirror. With her hair down, she thought she looked ordinary. Even when it was braided, she still looked normal. She wasn't pretty. At least that's what she thought. And also that's what the kids all around her thought. They all said that she was weird, that she was a 'witch.' She usually ignored their comments, but after what Chiharu told her, memories came flooding back to her.

She remembered about when she was younger, how she was tortured in school. How they made her do the most horrible things because even back then, she was classified as a 'witch.' She felt so alone, and scared. She wanted to fight back, but she was afraid of hurting them. Her powers were haywire, but she didn't notice that. All she noticed were the kids slowly advancing on her with their matches, and frogs. She then thought about that one boy she cursed. At the thought of him, she shuddered. She didn't want to remember that memory.

Instead Saki thought of happier things, about when she first met Kyoko-san, Tohru-kun, and Arisa. They were the highlight of her life. She loved them. Saki then walked back to her bed and sat down. Staring at the bright moon, she recalled those words that Kyoko-san told her back then when she told her about her past. As Saki was sobbing, Kyoko-san uttered two phrases that comforted her, "No man or woman is worth your tears, and the one who is won't make you cry." She also said, "Don't waste your time on a man or woman who doesn't want to waste their time on you." And with that Saki stopped crying. And she buried all those dreadful memories in the past, and moved on.

"Kyoko-san…I miss her." Saki thought to herself. A single tear dropped onto her pillow. With the light of the moon shining down on her, Saki fell into a peaceful sleep.

The next morning at breakfast, Saki was tired. Her mind was wandering, making her not able to concentrate on her denpa waves test that her grandmother was giving her. All she could think about was what would happen at school today.

"Saki!" Her grandmother finally said growing impatient. Saki snapped out of her daze and looked at her grandmother. Her grandmother, seeing as how Saki couldn't concentrate finally decided to give up and let the girl eat breakfast. Saki however just took a glass of orange juice, got her stuff, and left.

On the train ride to school, she thought about that song she listened to on Chiharu's I-pod yesterday. She liked the beat of it, it was relaxing yet vigorous. It made her want to sleep yet start rearranging her room. IT was weird. It reminded her of him. Wait, why was she thinking of him? "Must be lack of sleep." She told herself.

When she arrived at the school gates Tohru-kun and Arisa immediately greeted her.

"Hana-chan!" Tohru-kun cried out excitedly. Her throat was still sore and she was still kind of pale, but Tohru-kun being the strong person she was could make it through the day.

"Sup," Arisa said.

"Hello." Saki replied, "How was your class Arisa?"

"It was good."

"And you Tohru-kun, are you feeling better" Saki asked worriedly

"I'm fine, thank-you for worrying Hana-chan." Tohru-kun responded.

Saki smiled. Tohru-kun was always like that, thanking people for no good reason. No matter what happened to Tohru-kun, she was always smiling, like every day was a blessing. That's what Saki loved about Tohru-kun, she never found a reason to not smile.

"Hanajima-san!" a voice called out.

Saki whipped her braid around and saw Chiharu walking toward her. He had a slight smile on his face again. He was also listening to his I-pod again. Tohru-kun and Arisa were looking at her questioningly, their faces saying, "Who's he?"

"Hello, I'm Chiharu Yamazaki, a new student here." Chiharu responded to the questioning on their faces.

"Sup, " Arisa said while Tohru-kun started bowing and saying, "Nice to meet you Yamazaki-san I'm Tohru-kun Honda."

"Nice to meet you guys, Hanajima-san, I'll see you in class." Chiharu said. He then walked off to join some boys playing soccer.

Arisa was the first one to do anything after Chiharu walked off. She first stared at Saki, and then with a mischievous smile said, "An admirer Hanajima?" She then looked up at the sky innocently.

"He's just some new guy from America in our class, that's all." Saki said heatedly.

"Wow, he must be special because Hana-chan's all red." Tohru-kun said meekly.

"That's true," Arisa said, "I've never seen Hanajima show so much emotion or get so heated up over a guy."

Just then the bell rang. The trio then started to walk to their class, Tohru-kun and Arisa discussing what happened yesterday at Arisa's modeling class. Tohru-kun was jumping up and down with happiness at what Arisa was doing and Arisa was looking away embarrassed. Saki though wasn't paying attention. Instead, she was thinking. "I don't think he's special, " she thought to herself, "Yet how come everyone else says he must be special?" Still thinking to herself, she almost tripped over his foot.

"Hey, that's the second time I've seen you trip" he said teasingly. "You must be really clumsy huh?"

"I'm not clumsy!" Saki said indignantly.

"Oh, I'm sure you are, you're just denying it." He said. He then smiled and took his seat all the while listening to his I-pod. A few moments later Saki sat down right next to him and stared forward at the black board.

Once again the morning passed by, boredom clouded Saki's mind again. She decided to fall asleep in class, again. Once she actually closed her eyes though, she couldn't sleep. She couldn't concentrate on anything. She was really just, blah. "Screw it," she thought, and proceeded to take notes for the nights homework.

Two hours later the bell rang for lunch. Saki, finally relieved that half the day was over started to pack up her stuff. "I feel sleepy," she thought.

"Hanajima-san, I'll see you later." Chiharu called out behind his back as he walked out of the room.

After he exited Arisa and Tohru-kun came over to her desk, Tohru-kun being followed by Yuki, Kyo, Hatsuharu, and Momiji. Saki, looking at the big crowd around her desk said, "Hello."

"Hanajima, you gotta admit, that boy likes you," Arisa said.

"Wow, Hana-chan has an admirer," Tohru-kun exclaimed happily.

"You know that I don't like him right." Saki said.

"Well then how come your face is all red," Hatsuharu suddenly said.

Saki remained speechless. Instead she turned her attention to finishing up cleaning up the rest of her stuff. "I'll meet you guys out under the tree for lunch, ok?" she said.

"Ok!" Tohru-kun happily said, and they all filed out of the room.

Soon after Saki cleared up her stuff and headed to her locker to drop off her stuff. She soon reached her locker and dropped off all her stuff there. As she was heading over to the tree where the rest of them were eating, she heard voices whispering in an empty classroom. Curious, she decided to go over there.

From what she could tell, the classroom was just occupied by a whole bunch of guys and girls. Most of them were from her class, although a few of them were in the upper class. They were all gathered around this one guy, and were all whispering to him at the same time.

"That Hanajima girl is weird." One guy whispered.

"She's got denpa waves." A girl piped up.

"What are denpa waves?" the guy in the middle asked.

Saki recognized that voice. It was Chiharu's.

"Some sort of thing where she can read your mind." A guy answered him.

"Wrong," Saki thought. They were completely off the mark.

"Also, rumor has it that she got kicked out of her school because she used her denpa waves on a little boy and almost killed him." A girl said.

"Point being, she's dangerous to get close too, and she only has two friends, Tohru-kun Honda-san and Arisa Uotani-san." A guy said.

"Well, I don't mind," Chiharu said. "I met her friends this morning and they seemed perfectly fine to me." "Plus also, I like Hanajima, I mean so what if she's different, she unique and that's what I like about her."

"Is that it," Chiharu asked.

"Yeah, whatever, it's your choice whether you want to hang out with her or not, just be careful," a guy said.

"Yeah, ok, let's go play soccer ok?"

"Yeah!"

Saki then realized that they were headed toward the door, and that she was just right there. She looked frantically around and finally found a broom closet. She quickly opened it and then closed it just in time. She waited for about five minutes, before finally looking out of the broom closet. Coast was clear. Phew. As she headed out of the closet, she reflected on what she had just heard. "Ugh, I'm gonna get a headache with too much thinking," she told herself. And with that she headed off to lunch.


	5. A Lesson learned from the Past

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket

" When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good comes from it."

Ringgggggggggggggggggg! The bell rang for the afternoon. The kids, all tired headed home to sleep for a couple of hours. Saki Hanajima being one of those kids. She barely got any sleep last night, and plus she couldn't sleep during class because her mind wasn't up to it. She started to pack up her stuff.

"Bye Hana-chan!" Tohru-kun called out.

"Bye Hanajima." Arisa yelled.

"Bye you guys. " Saki responded.

Once they were gone, Saki continued to pack up her stuff. Her mind felt like a bunch of Jell-O, full of useless knowledge about the quadratic formula. I mean, who cares about that.

"Yo, Hanajima, ready when you are." Chiharu called out.

Saki placed the rest of her things in her bag and walked toward Chiharu. They once again headed home with silence. Chiharu listening to his I-pod, Saki to tired to even listen to anything. After about ten minutes walking away from the school they reached the train station. They both purchased their tickets and waited for the train to come. When it did come, they both boarded the train in silence.

Saki fell asleep on the way to the next station. She dreamed that she was in a light blue dress. "What the heck am I wearing." She thought to herself. Suddenly she felt someone jarring her awake.

"We're here," Chiharu said.

Sleepy-eyed, Saki got up and got off the train, Chiharu trailing right behind her. Once they got out of the station, they continued walking in silence for about five minutes. Chiharu then cleared his throat. Saki looked up at him questioningly.

"Um, is it true that you have denpa waves, or basically you can read people's minds?" Chiharu inquired.

"Denpa waves aren't like that," Saki replied. "They're more like people's feelings which come to my mind through waves."

"Oh, um, ok." Chiharu said.

"There's something else you want to ask me isn't there." Saki said.

Chiharu remained silent for a minute. He started contemplating whether he wanted to ask her or not, whether he was brining up past memories that she would rather keep buried. Well, she said to ask her something, so here goes.

"Is, it true," Chiharu paused, "That you almost killed a little boy."

Saki was silent for a long time. She suddenly stopped walking and looked up at him. Her eyes held a sadness in them, one that seemed to haunt her memories. Her breath seemed to catch up in her chest, and she paled out a little bit. Finally she spoke.

"Yes, I almost killed a little boy once," she finally said. "That's what caused me to change schools and to arrive here at this school."

"Um, ok." Chiharu said.

There was silence as they continued to walk. Saki felt like breaking down and crying. She hated to bring up the memories. However, she had to tell him the whole story, otherwise he would turn away, just like the others. And she knew, that she didn't want him to turn away.

"When I was younger, I couldn't control my powers as well as I can now." She said. "At my old school the kids there teased me, calling me a witch because I had my denpa powers. They made me eat frogs, they burned me, they made me mount brooms and fly around the classroom, just like a witch. I kept everything inside me, all my sadness, and frustrations. Finally one day, I couldn't take it anymore. There was this one boy who teased me constantly. On that day, he started teasing me constantly, in my mind I wished that he would just die. I kept on yelling in my mind that I wanted him to die. And all of a sudden he started shaking and he fell unconscious on the floor." Saki said.

A tear slid down her cheek as she remembered it all. All those memories flooded through her head. She kept on going though. "When they admitted him to the hospital I felt really bad. I almost killed someone. The school told me that it wasn't my fault, but all the children stayed away from me, calling me a witch. I started wearing black to atone for my sins. That's why I always wear black now."

Chiharu just stared at her for a while. He watched all those tears slide down her cheeks. And he felt really bad that he couldn't help her as she relived all that pain again. He felt really bad that he brought up all the pain again. Right there and then she looked so frail and shy, not like that strong blank girl that was known at his school as the 'scary one.'

Finally he said, "My mom always taught me this saying. Whenever I did something wrong, she would just hold me and say this, When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good comes from it." He paused for a little bit. "So don't mourn for the guy, he deserved it. There will always be people that hurt you, so what you have to do is keep on trusting and just be more careful about who you trust next time around."

Saki looked up at him, tears still streaming down her cheeks. However she smiled slightly and said, "Thank-you." They had reached her house by then and were standing by her gate.

"Anytime," He replied.

Chiharu then started to walk away. After about five steps he looked over his shoulder and said, "You know, a light blue would look good on you." He then started walking off toward the direction of his house. Saki stared after him for a while, and finally smiled. She then opened up the gate and went inside to start her homework.


	6. In the Hands of Music

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket

"Don't try so hard, the best things come when you least expect them to."

For the next couple of months things went by smoothly. Saki became fast friends with Chiharu and they started to hang out a lot. People disapproved of their relationship, but they didn't care. Tohru-kun was happy that Saki was able to make a friend, and Arisa was happy that she had a new boy to pick on. All in all, things were good. The student field trip was coming up and they were doing elections in each class to decide who would be the representative for the class. The votes came out a week later and it was decided that Chiharu would be the representative for their class 1-D.

The class started chattering excitedly about what they wanted to do for the class field trip. Some wanted to go to an Onsen, others wanted to go to a beach in Okinawa. Finally the class voted and it was decided that the class as a whole wanted to go to a beach in Okinawa.

One afternoon Saki had to stay after class to take a make-up exam that she failed. She was sitting in the desk by the window, staring out at the sunset and the plants below her. She had a single hair up which she used as an antenna to listen to the radio. She was currently listening to her favorite song when the door suddenly opened up behind her.

Saki turned around expecting it to be the teacher, but instead it was Chiharu. He had this look of bewilderment on his face. "Maybe it's because I have my hair sticking up," Saki thought.

Choosing to make no comment on the hair thing Chiharu said, "Hey, what are you still doing here?"

"I'm waiting for the teacher to give me my make-up test and I'm also listening to my favorite radio station." Saki replied.

"So that explains the whole hair sticking up thing." Chiharu muttered.

"Indeed." Saki said.

"Mind if I listen in with ya," He asked. "I still have a couple minutes before the meeting."

"Sure." Saki replied.

Chiharu walked toward her and stood next to her. "What now?" he asked. Saki didn't hear though. She was concentrating on trying to focus her power so that two people could feel it and so in that way, Chiharu could listen to the radio. She could feel though that it was not working.

"I don't hear anything." Chiharu said.

"Here wait, give me your hand. " she said. "I might be able to transmit the power better if I have your hand."

She then grabbed Chiharu's hand and proceeded to try again. Soon, out of the corner of her eye she saw Chiharu bobbing his head up and down to the music. She then assumed that he was hearing it too, and continued to listen to the music.

They stood there for about ten minutes. Neither of them talked, yet they were united by the sound of music. Finally though he let go of her hand. Startled, Saki looked up at him.

"I've gotta go to the meeting now, bye Hanajima-san." He said.

"Wait!" Saki called after him. Chiharu looked questioningly back at her.

"Call me Saki." She said. He smiled at her.

"I'll call you Saki-chan." And with that he sauntered off.

Saki's hand felt cold from where he had held it. His hands were soft and warm. She actually felt relaxed around him.

"Hanajima-san, I have your test," the teacher said behind her.

"Ok," she replied and she went up to the front desk to get the test.


	7. A New Look, A New Trip

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket

" Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic!"

Saki sat at the edge of her bed staring at the assortment of clothes scattered around her bed. For once in her life, she had no clue what she wanted to bring on their class trip. She never really cared about what she wore, but after looking at her clothes, she knew that she should care. All she saw around her was black, black, and black. "Maybe I should try out a different color." Saki thought. She remembered Chiharu's words, how a light blue would look good on her. She could try looking around her room for something light blue, but she doubted that there was any such thing in her room. She threw out all the colors in her room long ago. She sighed. Suddenly the telephone rang.

Getting off her bed and walking across the room to the phone she picked it up after the first ring and said, "Good afternoon, Hanajima residence this is Saki speaking."

"Hana-chan?" Tohru-kun asked.

"Ah, hello Tohru-kun." Saki said.

"Ah, good afternoon Hana-chan." Tohru-kun said. "I was wondering whether I should wear my green skirt and hair ribbon tomorrow."

"That would look cute." Saki responded.

"Oh good," Tohru-kun said. Saki smiled on the other end of the phone. Suddenly, she had a brilliant idea.

"Tohru-kun, may I ask you a favor please?" Saki said.

"Sure, anything Hana-chan."

"Um, I was wondering if I could borrow a light blue hair ribbon, shirt, and skirt from you for the trip." Saki said.

"Oh, um sure." Tohru-kun said surprised.

"Ok, thank-you. Good-bye."

"Oh, ok, Good-bye Hana-chan." There was a click on the other line and the phone buzzed. Saki sighed. Phew, that took care of one problem. Now all she had to do was pick out the things she was going to wear for the three-day class trip and she would be good. So Saki started picking random pieces of clothing for the trip.

At six o'clock the next morning Saki was at school waiting with her friends for the bus. When she had arrived earlier this morning, Tohru-kun had rushed at her with this bag.

"Here you go, here's the ribbon, shirt, and skirt you asked for." She said.

"Thank-you," Saki replied. After Tohru-kun had given her the bag Saki went into the bathroom where she took out the light blue ribbon. Taking her hair out of her braid, she combed it until it was good. Afterwards she gathered her hair into a ponytail. Then she tied the blue ribbon to the ponytail. Coming out of the bathroom though, she didn't see where she was going and she bumped straight into Chiharu.

"Whoa, watch where you're going Saki-chan." He grinned cheerfully.

"Well, I could say the same thing for you, watch out for people who are SMALLER than you, " she responded rather ruefully. Chiharu caught the blue ribbon in her hair. He smiled and gave a thumbs-up to Saki and walked away.

"I saw that." A voice said from behind her. Startled, Saki looked behind her and saw Arisa smiling like there was no tomorrow.

"Saw what?" she asked innocently.

"Geez Hanajima, your so clueless, obviously the guy likes you." Arisa responded. "By the way, what's with the ribbon?"

"Oh, that, it's nothing." Saki replied flustered. She then headed outside to get her stuff as the rest of the class was currently boarding the bus. Arisa stayed behind and looked at Saki's retreating back. "Interesting," she thought to herself and proceeded to follow Saki.

The total trip there took about three to four hours. The children first rode the bus to the Tokyo domestic airport which was twenty minutes. They waited about an hour for the plane to arrive. Finally the plane arrived and the children boarded, all of them chattering away, excited about the up-coming day. The plane finally descended down two hours later, some children looking like the morning sun, others looking like seaweed. Either way, all of the students made it to Okinawa safely. The teachers then ushered the children to another bus where they rode it until they reached their hotel near the beachfront.

For the next hour the teachers explained the rules of the vacation, and told them to buddy up into groups of three to four for roommates. Saki, Tohru-kun, and Arisa immediately were designated as one group and fifteen minutes later all the groups were assembled, Kyo and Yuki being stuck together. Then for the next five hours they were free to roam around until five o'clock when they all had to come in for dinner.

"What should we do?" Tohru-kun asked worriedly as all class left in their groups. Nobody could think of anything to do. They didn't want to go swimming because it was cold outside, and they didn't want to just stay in their hotel rooms.

"I know, why don't we take a couple of balloons, fill them up with water, and chuck them at our classmates." Said a voice behind them. Everybody turned around to see Chiharu right behind them. He seemed to have wandered away from his group, and he had a look of confusion in his eyes.

"I like that, that's a good idea." Arisa said. And with that she dragged Tohru-kun, Kyo, and Yuki with her to go buy some balloons from the local shop nearby. Which left Saki and Chiharu alone.

"You shouldn't get Arisa to excited, she just might go beat up a car." Saki said.

"Those are just chances I'll have to take," Chiharu grinned, "Besides, by the look on your face I'm guessing you think it's a good idea too."

"It's an interesting idea if I do say so myself." Saki stammered

"Well, Saki-chan I don't know if I told you this, but that ribbon doesn't look bad in your hair," he said now looking at the ribbon.

Saki turned a little bit red and stammered, "Um, thank-you." They just stood their for five minutes, waiting for the others to come back. Finally, the others came back, Tohru-kun panting, Kyo and Yuki looking exhausted, and Uo-chan smiling like a fool.

"Allright, let's go!" she said cheerfully and started marching towards the doors.


	8. A Water Balloon Fight

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket

"Events follow one another like the days of the week."

Tanzania proverb

On the beach now, Chiharu, Arisa, Tohru-kun, Saki, Yuki, and Kyo gathered together in a circle. "All right now, everybody pick rock or paper now." Arisa said commandingly. Yuki, Saki, and Chiharu picked paper while Tohru-kun, Arisa, and Kyo picked rock. The determined each of the groups. Each group got fifteen water balloons. Each person got five water balloons.

After the groups were decided and the water balloons picked, each group walked ten feet in the opposite direction and would start building their little fort out of what they could find. Kyo, Tohru-kun, and Arisa's fort was made out of tires and stones while Saki, Chiharu, and Yuki's fort was made out of bamboo that Chiharu and Yuki dragged over.

"ON the count of three, start throwing your water balloons." Called out Arisa. "One, Two, Three!"

There was a blur of different colors as each member from both teams tried to hit someone. About a minute after the game started Tohru-kun got hit in the head so everyone took a two-minute break to make sure she was ok. Afterwards, they played for about fen more minutes until all the water balloons were used up and after everyone was drenched. Bits of sand blown in from the wind clung to their wet clothes, their hair all dripping down making it look like they came out of the shower

After the game was over, everyone stared at each other and started laughing. They thought that that was the funnest game ever. All of them made a mental note to try playing it again when they got back to Tokyo. Since it was getting dark, they decided to head back up to the hotel.

As soon as they entered through the lobby doors a mob of people came rushing at them, asking them where they went, and why they were all wet. Lots of them were girls who stared enviously at Arisa, Saki, and Tohru-kun when they saw that they were there with Chiharu, Yuki, and Kyo. The teachers soon parted through the crowd though and told the group to freshen up because dinner was going to start in an hour. So the group departed and made their way to their rooms.

At dinnertime, Saki decided to wear that blue skirt Tohru-kun lent her, and a black shirt that she got from her closet. She put her hair up in a ponytail, fastened a clip underneath it, and let her hair go over the paper clip to give her look a bit more style. When Tohru-kun and Arisa saw her, they gave her a questioning look but decided not to say anything thinking that it had something to do with Chiharu. As they entered the dining hall, people whispered about themselves asking why that 'witch' was wearing colors. Saki just gave them a look though and they became quiet. They soon found a table with Yuki, Chiharu, Kyo, and Yuki's friend Manabe Kakeru and there they started eating.

Later that night in their room, Tohru-kun, Arisa, and Saki talked about the day's events and what they thought about the water balloon fight.

"I thought it was wonderful," Tohru-kun exclaimed, "We should do it more often!"

"I agree," Arisa said, "I would love to beat Kyon one time." At that comment Tohru-kun collapsed into peals of laughter. "What about you Hanajima?" Arisa asked.

"I thought it was quite fun too." Saki replied.

"Well, if the rest of this trip is as much fun as today was, I sure as heck am not playing hooky so often." Arisa stated.

With that the girls started laughing and soon afterward went to bed.


	9. Secrets Near the Water

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket

"A blind man who sees is better than a sighted man who is blind."

Iranian Proverb

The next morning the class gathered together in the dining area. Most of them were red-eyed from lack of sleep, other had bed hair, and those like Yuki just couldn't plain wake up. As the class was eating their breakfast the teacher called out the schedule for the day. The class would divide into groups of six and they would all go their separate ways and do different activities. They would have chaperones with them for the beginning half of the day, and then the rest of the day they were free to wander around Okinawa in their respective groups. As she was talking, the class started to decide their groups. Many people wanted Yuki, Kyo, or Chiharu in their groups, but they were all already in a groups with Tohru-kun, Arisa, and Saki. Soon everyone finished up their breakfast and started to get ready for the day. At ten o'clock the groups had assembled at the front gates of the hotel.

"So, where to?" Arisa asked.

"Well, since we're traveling as a class, the hotel is providing us with free scuba diving." Tohru-kun said.

"Ok, so why don't we go there." Saki said. And so the group proceeded to go to the scuba diving place. Yuki had earlier sweet-talked the teacher into not letting them have a chaperone, and the teacher consented because she thought Yuki was responsible enough to take care of all of them. Plus she knew that Honda-san would restore order in the group if ever a conflict arose. So she let them go without a chaperone. They soon reached the scuba diving place. Surprised at how empty the place was, they entered into the shop.

"Welcome, you must be the students of that school that's staying at this hotel." A kind-looking lady at the front desk told them. "Oh my, you guys are so cute." She said sweetly.

Yuki just smiled at her and said, "May we have five scuba sets please, uh, Suzuki-san."

"Oh yes, you sure can, but wait aren't there six of you guys here?" She asked.

"Oh, the baka neko doesn't want to swim." Yuki smirked.

Everybody except Tohru-kun and Kyo looked at questioningly at Yuki. Kyo just glared. Yuki just kept smirking. Within ten minutes the lady came back with five suits along with some gear. Everybody in the group knew how to scuba so in a matter of seconds, everybody was all suited up. The group (excluding Kyo, he was sitting on the beach playing with the sand) rode out in a boat to about ten miles off the coast. Tohru-kun had brought her waterproof camera and was currently securing it onto her suit. The wind blew through Saki's hair so by the time they got to their destination, her hair was all array.

After the guide told them a history about the area they were in and what they were supposed to do, they all jumped off the boat. The cold water sent a chill throughout their bodies, but soon they were too numb to even feel the coldness. They all swam around, chasing the fish, feeding the fish, Tohru-kun taking pictures while swimming. Their laughter resulted in bubbles in the water. After about half an hour of swimming, the group decided to get out of the water because by then they were really cold. On the way back Tohru-kun started showing off the pictures she took to the group, all of them laughing about how deformed they looked underwater.

By the time they got back Kyo was all grumpy from being left on the beach for such a long time. As he and Uo-chan were having a verbal fight and Tohru-kun was trying to calm them down, the others were wondering what they should do. They thought that they should dry out a bit from the scuba diving, so they decided on wandering around town. By the time they decided that, Tohru-kun had calmed down Uo-chan and Kyo and they were on their way. So they started heading out to town.

In town Tohru-kun started wandering all over the place, all excited. She would race from shop to shop looking at all the trinkets and getting all excited. She started buying little souvenirs for everyone, here and in Tokyo, even though the group told her that she shouldn't waste her money. While Tohru-kun was on her shopping spree for the family, Saki and Chiharu were wandering around town. Saki thought the town was kinda boorish, compared to Tokyo. She missed the city life, but the peace and quiet was rather relaxing. Suddenly a hand reached out in front of her and plucked a blue flower from the bush. Then Chiharu walked farther down the road and plucked a purple flower from another bush, and a white flower from another bush. Pulling off a couple pieces of thread from his shirt, he tied the flowers together and walked back to Hanajima.

Smiling, he said, "Pretty flowers for a pretty lady." His eyes twinkled with laughter.

Saki herself felt like laughing. Her cheeks were tinted red with a blush. She gave a nod and said, "Thank-you, my uh, good sir." She then started laughing. Chiharu joined in with the laughing and they soon had soar stomachs from laughing too much. He then smiled and put the flowers in her hair.

"There, " he said, "Three flowers to match this one flower already." He then smiled and started running forward to catch up with Tohru-kun and the others. Saki stood there and smiled for a bit, and then ran to catch up to the others too.

After Tohru-kun had bought everyone a souvenir, and after the others had gotten tired of trying to convince her not to spend her money, they decided to drop of their stuff at the hotel so that they didn't have to carry their stuff. They decided that they wanted to spend some more time at the beach so they proceeded to head down there. As they neared the shop where they got their scuba gear from, Suzuki-san's head popped out of the shop.

"Psst, kids, come here." She whispered. Curious, the group walked forward, wondering what this lady possibly wanted with them. Was the scuba diving not free? They were pretty sure it was, but maybe this lady changed it at the last minute.

"I discussed it with my boss, and your tour guide helped me convince him, but my boss said that if you guys wanted, you guys could go para-sailing." She said proudly. Tohru-kun went into super-shock mode thanking her and telling her that it was too much and that she didn't have to do that for them. Suzuki-san was trying to convince Tohru-kun that it was all right. Yuki looked mildly interested, and Chiharu and Uo-chan were all for it. Soon it was decided that they would take Suzuki-san up on her offer.

Within minutes, the whole group (yes, including Kyo) were on another boat speeding around the bay. AS their original tour guide was driving the boat, a different tour guide was helping Kyo and Tohru-kun get ready to launch. Soon the tour guide pulled the latch, and there was a scream from Tohru-kun as she was hoisted up into the air. Soon she and Kyo were specks in the big blue sky. The others on the boat cheered for them as they were sailing up high in the air. Tohru-kun was up taking pictures in the air, while Uo-chan took pictures of them from the boat. After flying for about ten minutes, Kyo and Tohru-kun descended down onto the boat. Tohru-kun was still kind of in shock, but she looked like she had fun. Kyo was a little disturbed about being hoisted up in the air so suddenly, but he had fun too. Afterwards Uo-chan and Yuki went up. Uo-chan was yelling at the top of her head about how cool this whole thing was while Yuki just looked at the surroundings around him. After another ten minutes they descended, Uo-chan flushed from the wind, Yuki slightly green. Then Chiharu and Saki's turn.

The two of them sat at the edge of the boat and climbed into their security seats. They buckled themselves up and sat there waiting.

"When are we going to…." Saki started to say, but just then the tour guide had pulled the lever. Saki had a flash go through her brain as they were shooting up into the air. Chiharu seeing the look on her face was laughing his head off and yelling at the top of his lungs woo hoo. They were soon in the air just gliding around. The sea from the sky took on a turquoise type color, the clouds seemed within reach. Saki stretched out her hand, trying to see if she could grasp a whisp of a cloud, so that she could hold the sky in her hands. Chiharu looked questioningly at her and asked, "What are you doing?"

Saki just looked ruefully at him and replied, "Nothing." Chiharu just kept looking at her questioningly before he finally smiled. He finally then reached his hand out into the air and grabbed onto something invisible.

"Open your hand." He told Saki. Confused, Saki did what he said and opened up her hands. He then put something invisible in her hands and closed her fingers over it. "There," he said proudly. Saki was still confused. She hadn't seen him put anything into her hands. She still kept her hands closed though.

"What did you put in my hands?" She asked curiously.

"Why, I put a piece of the sky into your hands, like what you were trying to get." He replied. "Weren't you reaching for the sky?"

"Baka, baka, baka!" Saki exclaimed. "I just wanted to feel the air against my fingers."

"Ok, whatever you say Saki-chan." He grinned.

There was silence for a few minutes. Saki felt the wind blow against her face, sending her hair flying back. The scenery was so pretty and peaceful, something you didn't get in the city. Suddenly Chiharu said, "You know, I enjoy being up here with you Saki-chan." He then turned to smile at her, his blue eyes aglow with happiness. Saki then felt distorted, there definitely was something special about this boy. How come she couldn't figure it out? Just then the rope started pulling the two of them back to the boat. Their ten minutes alone was done. The boat then started heading back toward the beach. The sunset was beautiful against the water, the sun cascading shades of pink, purple, orange, and all sorts of colors into the sky. Saki wished that the para-sailing could've lasted a little bit longer.

Once they reached the shore, they thanked Suzuki-san for everything and headed back to the hotel so they could get ready for dinner. Everyone was too tired to discuss the day's events. It was the last day they would spend in Okinawa. The next day they would head back home to Tokyo. After dinner, the groups split up into their room groups and headed to the hotel room. In the hotel room, Uo-chan brought out some sprite that she had brought back from their trip through town. The sprite was warm so Saki went down the hall to go get some ice.

At the end of the hall, she saw a door that was slightly open. A couple of guys were laughing in there. Saki meant to just walk by the door, but suddenly she heard Chiharu's voice laughing along with the other boys. Curious, she peaked through the crack of the door to watch them. There were six boys in the room, four of them gathered around a Mahjong table. There were sprite cans littering the floor, and clothes and luggages were spread in all corners of the room.

Suddenly one of the boys asked, "Hey Chiharu, why do you hang around that Hanajima girl, don't you find her scary or weird?"

The other boys chuckled a bit before becoming silent so they could hear Chiharu's answer. Chiharu just laughed for a little bit before saying, "Yeah, I think she's kinda scary. I feel like if I tease her too much she just might kill me." "I tease her though anyway because it's fun to do so. I also think her brother might come after me with a curse." "Hahaha," he said laughing.

Saki just stood at the doorway, too shocked to say anything. She didn't want to hear the rest of the conversation they were having about her. She just wanted to get out. Creeping silently away from the doorway, she headed back to the room totally forgetting to get some ice.

When she got back in Arisa said, "Hey, Hanajima, where's the ice?"

Saki realizing that she forgot the ice said, "Oh, I'm sorry Arisa, Tohru-kun, but they didn't have anymore." "I'm tired, I'm gonna go to bed." So she climbed into bed and threw the covers over herself.

Tohru-kun and Uo-chan looked worriedly at her back before Tohru-kun said, "Hana-chan, are you all right?"

Saki though pretended to be fast asleep already. A single tear slid down her cheek and fell onto her pillow. Crying silently now, Saki wished that she hadn't overheard that conversation. She wished that she had never met Chiharu. Most of all, she wished that she hadn't trusted him. Then she realized, the only special thing she saw about him were his eyes, that was it. Slowly crying, she eventually fell asleep.


	10. A Fight Breaks Out

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket

"A thorn defends the rose, harming only those who would steal the blossom."

Chinese Proverb

The next morning, Saki woke up at six o'clock. She went to go look at herself in the bathroom mirror. Her eyes were as puffy as mushrooms, and were all red. She wondered why she looked that way, but then she remembered the night before's events and she remembered. She turned on the bathroom faucet and started to pour cold water on her face. Maybe this would take away the puffiness and the redness in her eyes. She did this for about two minutes before she finally started to get ready. As soon as she got done getting ready Tohru-kun woke up.

"Ah, Hana-chan, you're awake!" Tohru-kun said.

"Good morning Tohru-kun," Saki replied. "I'm just going to go take a walk around the hotel to wake up." Tohru-kun nodded furiously and told her to go on ahead.

As Saki roamed around the endless hallways of the hotel she felt guilty for making Tohru-kun worry about her last night. She also started thinking about what Chiharu said, about her killing him. Saki got angrier and angrier. First off, he didn't know a thing about her. Plus he's been hanging around her all this time. Was he just spying on her so he could report to his friends how strange she was? By the time Saki entered the breakfast hall, her denpa waves were going haywire from all her rage. Her anger filled every corner of the room with an electrical shock. The students who had been chatting excitedly about going home now stopped to stare at her. She just gave them a death glare, one that told them to back off or else. The students just stared terrified at her, and quickly turned away to finish up their breakfast.

Saki headed toward the table that Tohru-kun and Arisa were sitting at. Tohru-kun was discussing something with Arisa and she had a worried look on her face. Arisa was listening with rapt attention, also with a weird look on her face. Once Tohru-kun had spotted Saki though, she exclaimed, "Ah, Hana-chan, how was your walk?"

Saki gave her a fake smile and said, "It was lovely, thank-you for asking Tohru-kun." Just then Yuki, Kyo, and Chiharu joined them at their table. Yuki still looked like he was sleeping, Kyo looked grumpy because he was up so early, but Chiharu smiled at them and said good morning to them. Arisa and Tohru-kun responded with good morning, but Saki just gave him a death glare, worse than the one's that she gave to the students earlier this morning. She then got up to leave saying that she was going to go pack up her things.

At ten o'clock the students were at the bus stop waiting for a bus to take them to the airport terminal. They were showing off the pictures to one another, and all the souvenirs that they bought. Chiharu was talking with Uo-chan, Tohru-kun, Yuki, and Kyo about the different types of trees in the area and all the myths surrounding the trees. Tohru-kun was listening in awe, amazed at the myths being told. Uo-chan looked pretty amazed herself and said to Saki, "Yo, Hanajima, come over here, you gotta listen to his stories." Saki just pretended that she didn't hear her though and just kept looking at the tree that she had been looking at for the past twenty minutes.

Finally at the airport terminal waiting for their flight, Saki talked to Chiharu. Uo-chan and Tohru-kun wanted to go look at the shops, and Kyo and Yuki decided to accompany them. Saki had declined the invitation of going with them because she felt like sitting down. She promised them that she would watch over their luggage. While sitting there thinking about the whole trip, a voice said from behind her, "How come you've been ignoring me the whole day?" Saki turned around to face Chiharu. He wasn't smiling.

Saki just replied, "I was just thinking that you wouldn't want to talk to a scary person such as me now would you." She glanced back at him. His face was kinda pale and he had a weird look on his face.

"You heard our conversation?" he said.

" You bet," Saki replied. "I used my scary denpa waves to eavesdroppe on your conversation. Who knows, now I might use them to kill you since you tease me so much and I hate being teased."

"Hey, that's not it," Chiharu started to say.

"Then what is it!" Saki yelled at him. "What the hell is wrong with me. What do you care if I choose to wear black of my own free will, what do you care if I got denpa waves. If you were scared of me then you shouldn't be hanging out with me!"

"I'm not scared of you, "Chiharu said.

"Well are you sure about that?" Saki said heatedly. "You sure seemed scared of me last night when you were telling your buddies about how scary I was. You even told them that my brother might curse you if you did something to me. YOU EVEN MADE A COMMENT ABOUT MY BROTHER!" She yelled.

"Saki-chan, you're misunderstanding what I was saying." Chiharu mumbled.

"What do you mean I'm misunderstanding what you are saying! I know perfectly well what you said last night. You think you know me so well, but the truth is that you don't. If you did know me so "well" then why don't you answer this. How come I wanted to touch the sky when we went para-sailing? How come I have denpa powers? How come I almost killed that boy? HOW COME I STILL CHOOSE TO LIVE WHEN THERE ARE PEOPLE LIKE YOU CRITIZING EVERYTHING THAT I DO!" She screamed.

By now all her classmates were looking at her. They all had this scared look in their eyes, her denpa waves were crackling all over the place. Tohru-kun and Arisa were looking from the sidelines, unable to do anything to stop her. Tohru-kun looked worried for Saki, Arisa looked impressed because she had never seen Saki show so much anger before. Chiharu had a weird look on his face.

"You wanted your answers, well here you go." Saki said coldly. "First off, I wanted to touch the sky because I wanted to see what heaven was like, I wanted to touch heaven because I know that I'm not going there because I almost killed someone. For the second question, our family has always had powers, my powers are just different, no one in my family has ever had them before. I almost killed that boy because he always tortured me, and I also wanted him to feel pain, like I did everytime he was around. As for the last question, I choose to stay alive in a world of people that criticize everything I do because I believe that with the support of my loved ones I can overcome everything that people like you say. Oh, and here's another piece of information about me, STOP CALLING ME SAKI-CHAN! IT'S AN ANNOYING AND STUPID NAME."

"People like me?" Chiharu said coolly. "I'd like to say that even now as you're yelling at me, you don't know a single thing about me. I mean sure, I don't know anything about you, but do you know anything about me? Do you even care to know anything? Oh, and by the way, I'll stop calling you Saki-chan, I never thought the name suited you anyway."

The two of them stood glaring across each other through a sea of luggages. The students around them were cowering in fear, one because they never saw Chiharu look so angry, and another because they had never seen Saki so angry, nor had they seen her powers so out of control before. Finally, to break the silence, their teacher said, "Class, the plane is here." Silently the class picked up their luggages and boarded the plane.


	11. Reflecting Back

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket

"Make yourself a better person and know who you are before you try and know someone else and expect them to know you."

On the plane ride home, the kid whispered to one another about what had happened. Many questioned Chiharu but he said nothing in reply. They didn't want to question Hanajima because she had this dangerous glint in her eyes. Her friends remained silent on either side of her, not wanting to do anything that would make her go ballistic. When they finally arrived at the other airport, the kids cheered to be back in the city. They then said good-bye to each other and went to go meet their parents at the front of the airport. Saki's parents couldn't make it to pick her up so she would be riding the train home today. She hailed a taxi and then told the driver to take her to the nearest train station. At the train station she bought her ticket, boarded the train, and sat there until it was her stop.

When she got off her stop, she walked along the same path that she took with Chiharu to go home. There were new flowers blooming on the lawns right next to the sidewalk. They looked like sugar flowers. Saki soon reached her house and unlocked the front door.

"I'm home." She called out.

There was a rush of feet from the upstairs as her brother hurried down the stairs. He ran into her and gave her a big, warm hug. "Saki, you're back!" he said. Saki faked a smile and hugged her brother back. After a few seconds, she told him that she was tired and felt like sleeping, so he let her go and she proceeded to go to her room. Inside her room, she locked the door and stared around her room. Just the way she left it. She dumped her stuff on her chair and plopped down on the bed. Settling now onto the warm sheets, she let sleep overtake her.

For the next couple of days Chiharu and Saki didn't talk. They slowly nodded to acknowledge each other in the morning, but other than that they didn't do anything. Whenever they needed anything, instead of asking the other to get it, they would just reach over and get it. People throughout the school who had heard about Chiharu and Saki's friendship wondered what had happened. They tried asking them, but instead all they got was no reply.

Saki felt all numb inside. She didn't know what to do, what to think anymore. She felt like a ghost, wandering around with her mind directing her what to do. Her friends noticed it too, Tohru-kun wanted to comfort her friend, but she didn't know how she could. Arisa suggested confronting her, but Tohru-kun told her to wait, and investigate stuff behind the scenes.

One day after class, Saki was packing up when Tohru-kun and Arisa came up in front of her. The classroom was empty by then. Saki, surprised to see them there said, "Hello."

"Hey, Hanajima, we have a present for you." Arisa said grinning. Tohru-kun and her then parted to reveal a boy from their class by the name of Genichiro. He was a tall lanky boy, with buckteeth. Yet he was a really nice guy. Saki immediately recognized him as one of the boys playing Mahjong with Chiharu that night.

"What do you want?" She asked coldly.

Genichiro gulped and loosened up his tie a bit. Then he said, "Um, I think you were a little harsh on Chiharu at the airport."

Saki glared at him and said, "Why do you say that?"

Genichiro looked at Arisa and Tohru-kun for support. Tohru-kun smiled encouragingly at him and Arisa gave him a thumbs-up. Feeling more comfortable now, he straightened up and said, "You didn't hear the whole conversation that night." He then started to tell what had happened after Saki went away.

(Flashback)

At the hotel room: "Hey Chiharu, why do you hang around that Hanajima girl, don't you find her scary or weird?" a boy asks.

A couple of boys chuckle for a little bit, Genichiro keeping silent. Chiharu laughs a little bit before saying sarcastically, "Yeah, I think she's kind of scary. I feel like if I tease her too much she just might kill me." "I tease her though anyway because it's fun to do so. I also think her brother might come after me with a curse." He then starts laughing.

The rest of the boys join in with the laughter. "It's true, she is really like that." They say unanimously. They begin to become silent, but Chiharu keeps chuckling darkly.

"Um, Chiharu, it's not that funny." One boy says.

"Actually, I think it rather is funny." Chiharu replies laughing. "I mean, what do you guys know about her? Nothing, absolutely nothing. You don't know what her past was like, you don't' know a thing about her personality, and I'm betting that you would've forgotten her name if she didn't have her denpa powers." Chiharu then starts to get really serious. "Did you really believe me when I told you that she was scary? I mean come on, if I thought a person was scary, then I wouldn't hang out with them. If you actually got to know Hanajima-san, you would know that she's actually a really sweet girl, with a unique personality to go with her unique powers. The thing is though, none of you even took the time to get to know her, I bet you didn't even care. I think that's really sad, because you're missing out on knowing a really great person."

(End of Flashback)

Saki stood there stunned. She suddenly felt this enormous amount of guilt wash over her. "It wasn't his fault, it was mine." She thought to herself.

"And that's what happened." Genichiro said. Saki thanked him and he left. Tohru-kun and Arisa looked worriedly at Saki.

"Are you ok Hana-chan?" Tohru-kun asked.

"Um, actually no." Saki responded. "I think I want to go home." Saki then said good-bye to them and started to walk away.

"Wait!" Tohru-kun said to her. Saki turned around wondering what Tohru-kun wanted. Tohru-kun handed her a beige envelope. Saki looked at her curiously but Tohru-kun just gave her an innocent smile. "Look at it when you get home." Tohru-kun said. Saki smiled at her and headed home.

When Saki got home she was all flustered. Her brain had been so clogged up with thoughts that she almost got lost going to the train station, and when heading toward her house. Her mind had too many thoughts in it, it was too crowded. So Saki decided to go do some Yoga up in her room. For a warm-up, she decided to do a Surya Namaskar (sun salution). Her back felt a little stiff from lack of practice for over a week, but she still managed to do a proper warm-up. Then she started doing some more Yoga stances. After sitting in an Ardha Matsyendrasana (Spinal twist/ Half lord of the Fishes) stance for about five minutes and her mind still not being cleared out yet, she decided to give up. Saki headed over to her bed, but on the way there she saw her CD player. She walked over to it and then looked at the cd's located in the cabinet below it. She picked out a random cd, put it in the CD player, pressed play, and then went to go lie down on her bed. The first track started off with a mellow tune. She closed down her mind and started to listen to the song.

_No one ever saw me like you do_

_All the things that I could add up too_

_But your eyes see everything_

_Without a single word_

"This song reminds me of something," She thought, "It reminds me of Chiharu's eyes, always looking into my soul, without me knowing."

_Coz' there's somethin' in the way_

_You look at me_

_It's as if my heart knows_

_You're the missing piece_

_You make me believe that there's nothin'_

_In this world I can't be_

_I never know what you see but there's_

_Somethin' in the way you look at me._

"This song doesn't describe him at all though. He's not the missing piece of my heart, he's the thorn in my side." Saki thought. "Or is he really the missing piece?"

_If I could freeze a moment in my mind_

_It'll be the second that you_

_Touch your lips to mine_

_I'd like to stop the clock_

_Make time stands still_

_Coz' baby this is just the way_

_I always wanna feel._

_Coz' there's somethin' in the way_

_You look at me_

_It's as if my heart knows_

_You're the missing piece_

_You make me believe that there's nothing'_

_In this world I can't be_

I never know what you see but there's 

_Somethin' in the way you look at me._

It was true though. She felt like she could do anything when she was near him. Like when they were para-sailing, she believed that she could touch the sky. All because he was right next to her, watching her, smiling at her.

_I don't know how or why_

_I feel different in your eyes_

_All I know is it happens every time_

Why was it that she always felt different when she looked at him? Why was it that she thought he was special? How come she was so attracted to his eyes?

_Coz' there's somethin' in the way_

_You look at me_

It's as if my heart knows You're the missing piece 

_You make me believe that there's nothin'_

_In this world I can't be_

_I never know what you see but there's_

_Somethin' in the way you look at me._

The way you look at me 

A single tear slid down Saki's face and fell onto her black shirt. She knew that she had done something wrong. She knew that she had wrongfully accused Chiharu of not knowing her. She should be the one who was accused, after all she didn't even know herself.


	12. Apologies

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket

"The worst way to miss someone is to be sitting right beside them knowing you can't have them."

The next morning when Saki arrived at school she was wondering to herself how she was going to apologize to Chiharu. She was still wondering when she bumped into Tohru-kun in the hallways.

"Oh, Tohru-kun-kun, I'm sorry." She said as she saw her.

"Ah, I'm ok Hana-chan." Tohru-kun replied cheerfully. "Thank-you for worrying." Saki smiled at her. As she was about to turn away to go to her locker Tohru-kun said, "Hana-chan, I know you're in deep thought, but let me give you some advice. My mom told me something when I was little around the time that I was getting bullied. She said to me, always tell someone how you feel about them; you will feel much better when they know." She then smiled and said, "See you in class Hana-chan." She then walked off smiling to herself.

"Tohru-kun-kun, the most selfless person I know." Hana-chan mused to herself. She then walked to her locker where she gathered her books and started to head for her classroom. When she got to the classroom, Chiharu was surrounded by some people he was with when playing soccer one week. He was smiling and laughing at something one guy was saying. Saki walked over to Uo-chan and Tohru-kun and said, "Good-morning Arisa, Tohru-kun-kun." Tohru-kun responded with a good morning while Arisa mumbled back a hello. She had her head on her desk, apparently trying to catch a few minutes of sleep before the bell rang. Saki chatted a little bit with Tohru-kun before the bell rang. When it did ring, she went over to her seat and sat down. Chiharu did the same suit a little while afterwards.

Saki looked straight ahead and said, "Good-morning Yamazaki-san." She then looked through the corner of her and saw Chiharu staring shocked at her.

He quickly straightened up though and said, "Good-morning Hanajima-san." Saki felt sad inside. He wanted her to call her Saki-chan. She knew however that that was impossible. She had told him to stop calling her that, and he stopped.

Just then the teacher walked in and started to announce the morning news and to take attendance. The class whispered among themselves about what had just happened between Saki and Chiharu. Saki wanted to apologize to him now, but she wanted to do it alone, without her classmates peering over her shoulder or eavesdropping on them. She decided that lunch would probably be the best time.

The rest of the morning passed so slowly that Saki thought that she might burst out of her seat and apologize to him right there and then during the lesson regardless if her classmates where there or not. However, she calmed herself down, and eventually the bell rang. Saki packed her stuff quickly and rushed out of the classroom, hoping to grab her lunch before she went to go see him.

She however, wasn't fast enough to catch up with him. After she had grabbed her lunch, she rushed back to the classroom to see if he was still there. The classroom was empty. Saki then walked to the area where she thought his locker was. He wasn't there either. As she was passing by an open window near the field she looked down and saw a couple of boys playing soccer. One had just scored a goal. The girls on the sideline cheered and said, "Go Chiharu!" Saki knew she was too late. She walked gloomily back to where she always sat lunch and started eating.

The rest of the day passed by slowly too. Saki sat in class, dreaming about getting home. She felt tired, and numb. She didn't know what emotions she was feeling at the moment. Soon enough though the bell rang and she started to pack up. Students started filing out of the classroom, saying good-bye to each other.

"Chiharu, we'll see you on the field." One boy said to Chiharu.

Chiharu smiled and said, "Ok."

Soon the class was empty except for Saki and Chiharu. Saki, noticing that she was alone with Chiharu decided to apologize to him this time. She heard Tohru-kun's words ringing throughout her head, "always tell someone how you feel about them; you will feel much better when they know."

"Um, Yamazaki-san, I wanted to apologize for yelling at you at the airport." Saki said. "Yesterday, Eniwa-san came up to me and told me what really happened that night you guys were playing Mahjong. He told me how you stuck up for me. I didn't hear the whole conversation so I didn't hear how you stuck-up for me. I wanted to say I'm sorry for telling you that you didn't know me. I found out last night while I was evaluating my life, that I don't know myself either. I also wanted to thank-you for sticking up for me. I know most people wouldn't, and I feel glad that you stuck-up for me." Saki sighed and bowed her head.

Saki felt her head being lifted by a hand and she saw Chiharu's smiling face. "I forgive you Hanajima-san, and you're also welcome. Last night I was thinking to and I realized that you were right, I don't know you. You're just some mysterious girl in my class that very little people will get the chance to know. Maybe I'm one of them." He then turned to leave.

Once again she heard Tohru-kun's words ringing throughout her head. "Wait, Yamazaki-san!" He stopped to look at her. "I um…" she started to say.

Suddenly a voice called from behind them, "Chiharu, come on, the guys are waiting."

"I'm coming," Chiharu told him, "Oh, by the way Hanajima-san, I burned you a cd with some of the songs on my I-pod that are popular in America." He tossed a CD at her hands. "Here you go, have fun listening to it." "Good-bye Hanajima-san." He then walked off.

Saki stood there staring at his retreating back. She then went to go pack up her stuff. She was passing down this one hallway when she heard voices coming through the window. She looked out and saw it was coming from the soccer field, where Chiharu was playing. She glanced at the CD and decided that she would listen to it at home.


	13. The Acacia Finally Bloomed

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket

"To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world."

It was late by the time Saki arrived home. She had stopped by the convenience store to buy some supplies that she was going to use for her art project. She had bought a box full of Popsicle sticks, some glue, a bag of sequence, some ribbon, and some paint along with some paint supplies. The bag was heavy so she stopped a couple times on the road so she could rest her arm from carrying it home. When she finally arrived home, she went up to her room, dumped all her stuff on her chair, and went to go lie down on her bed. Starring up at her ceiling, she wondered about what she was about to say to Chiharu earlier that afternoon. She had this urge to say something, but after someone called Chiharu, she just forgot what she wanted to say. Suddenly, remember Chiharu, she went walked over to her bag and rummaged through it trying to find out where she put that CD.

As she was searching she found a beige envelope in her bag. "What's this?" she said. Suddenly she remembered the envelope Tohru-kun had given her the day before. She set the envelope on her desk and continued to rummage around her backpack for the CD. She soon found it, and walked with it to the CD player where she inserted it. The first track started off with a calm beat, something that was relaxing to listen to. The track was in English, probably this whole CD was. Saki didn't know much English, but she had picked up some whenever she was nearby places where tourists like to go, such as Tokyo Tower.

She walked back to her desk and sat down in her chair. She undid the clasp of the envelope and dumped the contents onto her table. Out poured a whole bunch of pictures of their trip. There was a group picture of them underwater scuba diving, taken by their tour guide. There was one of each group as they were about to go up para-sailing. What picture attracted her most was this one picture of her and Chiharu. They were scuba diving and they found a blue starfish. They were surrounded by a whole bunch of colorful fish. There were bubbles coming from Chiharu's mask which meant that he was laughing. Saki looked closer at herself in the picture and she saw that she was smiling, trying to catch this one blue fish that kept coming up close to her face. Saki forgot that she could smile like that. That trip seemed so far back in time that she wondered whether it really happened.

Picking up her bag of art supplies now, she took out her supplies and began to make picture frames for each of the pictures. She glued Popsicle sticks together, glued sequence on the Popsicle sticks, and put dabs of glitter on them. Then she poked to holes in the picture frame where she tied a ribbon there. She did that for each picture until finally she came to the picture of her, Chiharu, and the fishes. She found a piece of cardboard for that picture and glued it to the back of the picture. Then she made a stand of Popsicle sticks and glued it to the cardboard to add as a stand. She then started to make the frame of the picture. On it, she made little patterns of fish on the frame, and put little stars on the frame. She then took the flowers that Chiharu gave her, tied a ribbon around them, and tied them to the picture frame. When she was done, she set the picture on her bed side table and hung the rest of the pictures around the room.

Suddenly she heard Chiharu's voice right behind her. "Hey Hanajima-san, I'm glad that you're listening to the CD I burned you." Startled Saki turned around and realized that it was the CD. A slight tapping on her window told her that it had started to drizzle. The recording continued saying, "Last night, when I was burning this CD, I was thinking about all the different songs that describe you. So I put it on this CD. This last song is from me to you though. It tells about this girl, who's beautiful, but she feels broken because no one can see her true self. It reminded me of what you told me at the airport, and I realized that you were right, I don't know the real you. I probably never will. So this song is simply a good-bye kind of. I also wanted to tell you that I have liked you, probably loved you ever since I first saw you. I understand though, that I'm not the one. So, good-bye."

Saki had tears in her eyes after the recording stopped playing. He had liked her, she had rejected him, and hurt him in the process. She felt so guilty then. After the recording, the song started playing.

Beauty queen of only eighteen  
She had some trouble with herself  
He was always there to help her  
She always belonged to someone else

I drove for miles and miles  
And wound up at your door  
I've had you so many times but somehow  
I want more

Saki remembered the first time he came. The first time she saw him and realized that he was special. Something about his eyes. He was an intriguing person, and she like that about him.

_I don't mind spending everyday  
Out on your corner in the pouring rain  
Look for the girl with the broken smile  
Ask her if she wants to stay awhile  
And she will be loved  
She will be loved_

Saki let the tears fall from her eyes. She knew her smile was broken, it had been a long time since she smiled a big smile, like the one in the fish picture. She kept her real smiles hidden. She cried however, and realized that he wouldn't be on that corner waiting. The recording said that he said good-bye.

_Tap on my window knock on my door  
I want to make you feel beautiful  
I know I tend to get insecure  
It doesn't matter anymore  
_

_It's not always rainbows and butterflies  
It's compromise that moves us along  
My heart is full and my door's always open  
You can come anytime you want  
_

Suddenly a thought hit her. Maybe he would be out on that corner? Maybe he was waiting out there. The rain outside her window beat down even harder. Saki didn't care though. She ran to her closet, and grabbed her raincoat. On her way out the door of her room, she saw Tohru-kun's blue ribbon hanging on a hook. She took the ribbon, and carefully tied it to her hair. Then she ran down the stairs, put on her shoes, and ran outside.

_I don't mind spending everyday  
Out on your corner in the pouring rain  
Look for the girl with the broken smile  
Ask her if she wants to stay awhile  
And she will be loved  
She will be loved  
_

ON the corner of Saki's street was a park. She hadn't been there in a long time, but it was one of her favorite places to go whenever she just wanted to think. She entered through the gates and started looking around, hoping that he would be here somewhere.

_I know where you hide  
Alone in your car  
Know all of the things that make you who you are  
I know that goodbye means nothing at all  
Comes back and begs me to catch her every time she falls_

Saki fell on the ground near the bench. She gave up. He wasn't here. She had looked everywhere, on the swings, on the playground set, in the sandbox, on the teeter totters. Nothing. She knew it was too good to be true. Of course he wouldn't be here. He told her himself that he gave up. The rain by then had soaked her hair so it lay damp on her shoulders. Her body shook and she cried. She cried because she knew he wasn't here. She knew that he had moved on. And she also cried, because she did love him. It was indeed truly over. Suddenly someone tapped her on the shoulder.

_Tap on my window knock on my door  
I want to make you feel beautiful_

When Saki turned around she saw Chiharu. He had a concerned look on his face. Saki stood up and faced him.

"So you did come after all." She said.

Chiharu nodded. "I had this strange feeling after I talked to you after-school today. It was this nagging feeling that wouldn't go away, no matter what I did. I finally decided that it must've been that I forgot something, but I didn't know what. Well, I was lying in my bed, and I suddenly had this odd feeling that you were crying, that you were alone. So I got out of bed, and came to the park because that's where I thought you would go."

"And you were right." Saki mumbled.

_I don't mind spending everyday  
Out on your corner in the pouring rain  
Look for the girl with the broken smile  
Ask her if she wants to stay awhile  
And she will be loved  
She will be loved _

Saki stepped forward and closed some of the gap that was in-between them. The rain beat down even harder, and she felt cold but she didn't care. She reached for his hand and stared into his eyes. "Now or never." She thought to herself.

"Um, Chiharu, I don't know how to explain it but there's something special about you. I can't describe it. Of all the people that intrigue me, you are probably the most intriguing of all. I tried to figure it out, but you always seem to stump me. I don't know how to say it, but I…" she said.

Just then Chiharu leaned down and kissed her. It was swift, but it left her feeling startled. She stared back at him as he pulled away. He smiled and said, "I love you Saki-chan. You're special. I knew you were when I first saw you. That's why I tried to get to know you. When you yelled at me, I thought that maybe I wasn't the guy. I tried to say good-bye, but like they say, good-byes are the hardest things to do in the world. So, I think I'll try my luck and try this one more time. Will you go out with me Saki-chan?"

Saki stared in shock at him. She was still numb from the kiss. Finally, as her response, she slapped him. "You should at least let me finish what I'm trying to say you jerk." She stated angrily. "it's not everyday I do this." Afterwards she leaned forward and gave him a kiss that left him feeling startled. "But as in response to your question, yes, I think that I would like to go out with you too."

Chiharu stared at her for a minute, and finally stepped forward and hugged her.

_I tired so hard to say good-bye_

And the two of them just stood there hugging in the rain. They didn't that they were getting wet. They didn't care about the future. All they cared about was that this moment would last as long as it could. And that was that.

The End


End file.
